“Volvo comes from Northern Europe and is rooted in Sweden. Volvo will not be Volvo any more if taken out of the soil,” Geely chairman Li Shufu said, after returning from Sweden where his company agreed to pay US$1.8 billion (RM6.1 billion) for Volvo.

“The relations between Geely and Volvo in the future will be like brothers, not father and son,” he said.

Geely, which means auspicious or lucky in Chinese, is counting heavily on its home China market to revive the money-losing Volvo brand, with plans to double the Swedish company’s production by building a major new plant in China.

Owning a global brand like Volvo will also give Geely a chance to build up its profile in China, where it is known more for small, inexpensive cars, and to catch up with bigger state-owned rivals that have partnered with the likes of GM and Volkswagen. — Reuters